Queens Cup continues with wins for El Remanso, EFG Bank Aravali and Dubai

By Alex Webbe

The second round of play got underway at the Guards Polo Club today with the results of three games helping to decide what teams move forward and which are left behind.

In one of two noon games, El Remanso (Ali Patterson, George Hanbury, Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera) fought through a very physical game with Enigma (Charlie Hanbury, Sapo Caset, Guillermo Willington and Jerome Wirth) ) to capture the win in a 9-8 game.

El Remanso took an early 3-1 lead in the opening chukker, but found themselves holding on to a narrow 4-3 advantage at the end of the second. Single goals from El Remanso and Enigma in the third kept El Remanso in the lead at the end of the first half, 5-4.

The pace quickened in the second half with Enigma giving El Remanso everything they could handle. At the end of the fifth chukker it was all even at 7-7.

El Remanso outscored Enigma 2-1 in the final chukker for the 9-0 win and a 2-0 record in Queens Cup play. Enigma’s record slips to 0-2, virtually eliminating them from the competition.

EFG BANK ARAVALI 9, TWELVE OAKS 9

A second noon matchup saw EFG Bank Aravali (Karan Thapar, Mark Tomlinson, Javier Novillo Astrada and Jaime Huidobro) even their record at 1-1 by defeating Twelve Oaks (Inaki Laprida, Magoo Laprida, Marcos Di Paola and Stefano Marsaglia) in a 9-8 squeaker.

Les Lions embarrassed EFG Bank Aravali in a 17-9 season opening loss, and the team was out to prove that they could be competitive against a Twelve Oaks team that had lost its opening game as well (a 13-8 loss to Zacara).

EFG Bank Aravali was aggressive from the onset, with combinations between Javier Novillo Astrada and Jaime Huidobro setting the pace in the early goings, and found themselves on top, 5-3, at the end of the first half. Twelve Oaks fought back, but EFG Bank Aravali managed to carry an 8-7 lead into the final chukker.

Twelve Oaks tied it up at 8-8 in the sixth, and it appeared the game would be going into overtime when a Twelve Oaks player fouled, sending EFG Bank Aravali’s Jaime Huidobro to the penalty line. Huidobro executed a well-placed shot for the winning goal, 9-8, as time ran out.

EFG Bank Aravali left the field with a 1-1 record in Queens Cup play and a chance to advance dependent on the outcome of next week’s showdown with Zacara (1-0), while Twelve Oaks (0-2) was forced to rethink their strategy before their next game (against Les Lions, 1-0, next Sunday, June 2).

DUBAI 13, EMLOR 8

It didn’t take long for the Adolfo Cambiaso-powered Dubai team (Rashid Albwardy, Alec White, Nico Pieres and Adolfo Cambiaso) to get back into the thick of it as they dismantled a previously unbeaten Emlor team (Spenser McCarthy, Joachim Pittaluga, Luke Tomlinson and Nacho Gonzalez) in a 13-8 romp.

The two teams sized up one another in a 1-1 opening chukker before Dubai exerted it control in the match. Dubai outscored Emlor 3-1 in the second period for a 4-2 lead and extended that to five goals, 8-3, at the end of the first half.

Dubai rode into the final chukker with a 12-6 lead and coasted to the 13-8 victory. Both Dubai and Emlor hold identical 1-1 records in League I competition, while El Remanso remains atop the league with a 2-0 start.

In a battle of two unbeatens, Zacara (Matt Perry, Rodrigo Andrade, Lyndon Lea and Facundo Pieres) will face Les Lions (Tincho Merlos, Sebastian Merlos, Henry Fisher and Joachim Gottschalk) on Monday afternoon League II competition, in the only game of the day. Both teams will be looking to improve their record to 2-0, as they make a run for the 2013 Cartier Queens Cup.